Day 7
We went to Singapore Zoo today and as it was Saturday I had booked breakfast with the orangutans two days earlier (I think I picked up a pamphlet from the Visitors Centre). They had a promotion children eat free with paying adults but as both were under 4 we didn't have to pay anyway. We were up and out by 8am and caught a taxi from the taxi rank at Wisma Atria. We had a nice chat with the taxi driver on the drive there. I believe this was the longest distance we had travelled. The taxi driver preceded to inform us this was one of the best zoos in the world and my mother in law told him we had a wonderful zoo in Sydney but having been to the Singapore Night Zoo and Taronga Zoo I had a little chuckle to myself because while Taronga Zoo is great I think both Singapore Zoo and Night Safari are in a different class. I think Singapore Zoo and Night Safari are fantastic and a must to visit. Our taxi driver also asked us what we had done so far and what we planned to do (I was thinking about going to the Discovery Centre and Science Centre and he said they were far away and the kids were too young to appreciate either centre, so took his advise and crossed these off the must see list). We paid SGD18 each adult entry into the zoo and unlimited tram rides for an additional SGD5 which is well worth it because it was very hot at the zoo. We then walked to the restaurant and paid about SGD25 for full buffet breakfast. This was the best breakfast we had had and it was definitely worth going for breakfast because we were out early and could relax, eat breakfast and then start walking around the zoo. The zookeepers first brought out a snake and then the Orangutans came down from their enclosure and they ate while we ate and then you could have your photo with them (taken by zoo photographer and your own camera). We had both and I think the zoo photo was SGD25 - steep but it was the only souvenir I bought at the zoo. After breakfast and toilet breaks and nappy changes it was just before 11am so we got ourselves a seat for splash safari (which was located opposite the restaurant and waited for the show to start. The show was very good with dugongs, penguins and seals with a focus on conservation (conservation is a constant theme right throughout the zoo). My son was screaming for an ice cream after the show thanks to the ben and jerrys opposite splash safari (which he didn't eat). The tram was also close to splash safari and we hopped on and hopped off at primate kingdom which was a little hilly but very good. 'Monkeys' are a favourite animal and the kids loved it. We walked down the hill back to the restaurant as there were elephant rides close by. My son and husband had a ride for SGD8 (for an adult - again didn't have to pay for my son). The ride was a bit bumpy as they sat pretty much right on the elephants back but my son enjoyed it. There was a zoo photographer taking photos and he gave my husband a slip of paper with numbers corresponding to the photos taken. After the ride we walked through the african safari. It was awesome to be so close to the animals and as we walked along the zookeepers were feeding the cheetahs and lions and the lions were roaring. It was really incredible. At this point in our day we were thankful for the air conditioned viewing room for the lion enclosure and spent at least 10 minutes in there. At the end of the African Safari is Kidzworld which has pony rides, carnival rides, KFC, adventure play equipment and a large water play area. It was well past lunchtime and we had lunch at KFC which was packed of course. We were very lucky to find seats and my son could not wait to get into the water play area. I had brought the kids' swimmers but I should have packed mine as well, while I didn't plan on getting wet it is almost unavoidable and it was nice to cool off. I was soaked from head to toe without trying so my tip is definitely bring your swimmers. While seeing the animals in natural enclosures is fantastic the water play area had to be the highlight for us. The area is covered in spongy foam and gently undulates - I don't think the water was more than 20 cm deep in any one spot and there are different water features ie water tunnels, water buckets filling up and pouring out, water guns around the perimeter and a play gym with 2 small covered water slides (big enough for an adult to go down) 2 uncovered slides and other water features. The main feature was a huge bucket that filled with water and tipped over at the top of the play gym which was a big hit with the older kids (and adults). My other tip is if you hear the bell ringing move away from the play gym. We saw a few unsuspecting adults drenched from head to toe. The zoo photographers were around and gave my husband another slip of paper for the photos they'd taken. Lucky the kids got thirsty we were able to get them out of the water and dried and dressed and as we were finishing up our cold drinks closing time was called. I thought we'd get to the zoo early and leave around or after lunchtime. I never thought we'd be there from 8.30 to 6.00 and there was a lot we didn't see! We walked to the front gates and had a look in the souvenir shop (didn't buy anything). We viewed the photos the photographers had taken during the day at a bank of screens in the souvenir shop. They were quite expensive and weren't better than the pictures we'd taken. Exited the zoo and had no trouble getting a taxi back to the apartment. We were all wrecked and when we got back to the apartment my husband went to Food Republic to get dinner and my mother in law and I went upstairs and I bathed the kids before dinner. After dinner and after the kids were asleep my mother in law asked - as she had done each night - if we wanted to go out on our own. While we were tired we decided to take her up on the offer and headed out.
We caught the MRT to the Swissotel and asked the concierge how to get to the New Asia Bar. We meant to go the piano bar not the disco but we got in the wrong line and SGD30 each later we were in the New Asia Bar with a vodka lime and soda each. Nowhere to sit so looked out the windows at the great view of the city, finished our drinks and headed downstairs to City Space. There was already one couple waiting and the hostess advised it would be another half hour, we decided to wait as this would be our only night out and in less than half an hour we were seated at a table and ordering drinks (another vodka lime and soda for him and a cocktail for me - can't remember what). We were seated at a table on the wall and asked our hostess if we could move to a table near the window and decided if we finished our drinks and hadn't been moved we'd leave. Soon after finishing our drinks we were moved to a window table and the view was great and the music was good too. We ordered a bottle of Moet ($S85++ I think) and with the hostess pouring we had over 5 glasses each so the bottle lasted a long time allowing us to take in the view. It was a bit of an expensive night but we only did this once on the holiday. We then ended the night on a high note (midnight snack at Mcdonalds) and then a cab ride home.
Day 8
We had a lazy morning in and had leftovers for breakfast and decided to do a bit of shopping but not on Orchard Rd so headed to Vivocity by MRT. We shopped together for awhile and after lunch (at Carls Jnr - not very good - even the kids didn't enjoy it!). We all split up after lunch - Hubby took our son to see Coraline - the only kids movie on though a bit scary for a 3 year old. My husband had to pay for our son to see the movie and this was the second and last time we had to pay for him which was pretty good (first being S$2 for the Ducktour). I took our daughter shopping. I mainly walked around, found the great water play area and playground on the top level but I didn't take the kids there and then walked over to the cruise passenger terminal and then back to Vivocity and spent the rest of my time in Giant (which I'd liken to Big W - with lots of bargains). Giant had a good selection of clothes (kids and adults) and all household items and a full supermarket downstairs. Raced back to meet hubby and mother in law and tell them what I'd found and we all spent over an hour in Giant and it was getting pretty late so we took our items ( mainly kids clothes) and headed downstairs to the supermarket and bought some rolls and sausages for dinner (paid for everything together). We were all tired and the kids were cranky and we wanted to get home in a hurry so we decided to catch a cab back, unfortunately there was a very long line (it was Sunday night) and the maxi taxis were looking better and better the longer we waited. We waited about half an hour and hadn't moved very far so we caught a maxi taxi back to the apartment and it was worth the SGD40 - we just should've caught it earlier. Baths for the kids and sausages on bread for dinner (not too bad).
Day 9
Woke up and the boys weren't well (under the weather) so I went to breakfast with my mother in law and daughter and we took some pastries up to them and the lie in did them good. Decided to have a look at Mustafas so we caught a cab and had a look around. I thought it was ok, if you're transitting in the middle of the night at least you can go there to shop. We didn't go to every floor and I bought shoes for my daughter ( 3 pairs for about SGD12 each - very cute) and the last of the souvenirs. Hubby bought a remote control car for our son (thats what he says). I know I bought more but I can't remember cause it was so long ago. We had lunch at the cafe at Mustafas. The food was good and cheap. It started to rain while we were there so we sat it out and watched the world go by. After lunch hubby took the kids back to the apartment and my mother in law and I went shopping separately. We both ended up on Orchard Rd and we kept crossing paths in the stores but we shop for different things (makeup & perfume for her and clothes for me). From OGs I bought a guess bag half price at less than SGD100 and a beautiful party dress for my daughter for SGD30 and two pairs of jeans and a top from the plus size section (I think it was about S$100 for the 3). I bought a few more things at different department stores on Orchard Rd. I can't remember what we had for dinner, but after dinner hubby wanted to go back to Mustafas together, so after the kids went to sleep mother in law stayed with them and we went back and went through every floor and hubby bought some more remote control cars - our son had already broken the aerial on the remote control bought earlier that day! We just wandered around looking at everything and caught a cab back after midnight. I think the cabbie ripped us off because the fare back was more than double the fare there - there couldn't be that many surcharges. Anyway off to bed before our last day.
Day 10
Last full day, after breakfast we caught a cab to Memories at Old Ford Factory and the exhibition was very good. Admission was very cheap at SGD3 per adult. The WWII sites, exhibitions and museums are well kept in Singapore and very informative and hubby and I find them very interesting. Not somewhere for young kids, my two got bored very quickly. We were only there for about an hour or two, you could stay longer but we had seen most of the displays. We caught a cab back to Orchard Rd and had lunch at Lucky Plaza, well actually we had lunch at McDonalds. No not just because the kids enjoy it, I do too. After lunch we did the last of our souvenir shopping at Lucky plaza. I thought the prices were good for hats, bags keyrings and the like. After shopping we took the kids for a swim (the only time we swam at the apartments) and had a leisurely afternoon. We packed our bags and hubby got takeaway from Food Republic and we ate in the room and then to bed.
Day 11 Home
Up early for our flight home and we had ordered a maxi taxi for the trip to the airport ( I believe it was SGD45 or SGD60). Checked in with a little hassle (changing bassinet seats to regular seats as my daughter doesn't fit in the bassinet). Claimed our tax refund, it was a bit confusing going from counter to counter but we got a bit of money back. Had a look through duty free (hard to believe we weren't sick of shopping) and then upstairs to the restaurants. We were going to get a bite at Delifrance(I think) but next door they had a hot breakfast special - a nice change from the continental breakfast we had every day. The kids went to sleep just before takeoff and slept for 3 hours which was great. Flight home was good - well, as good as a flight home from holidays can be.
All in all a great holiday, maybe a little too action packed. It was cheap to travel with the kids, besides airfares the only time we had to pay for our son was on the Ducktour (S$2) and for the movies ( I think S$11). It was great having the tandem stroller for the times they both wanted to rest and at the airport but it was a bit of a hassle looking for lifts instead of taking the stairs or escalators and sometimes having to carry the stroller up stairs anyway. If they were a bit older it would've been easier to either have one umbrella stroller or no stroller and rest when the kids needed to.
I hope there was some useful information in my JBR even if it is very very late. If anyone has any questions about anything we did, let me know. Happy to share any information.
Cheers
Robyn
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